Victor Osimhen is stuck at Napoli for the forseeable future after proposed moves to both Chelsea and Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli collapsed on a dramatic transfer deadline day.
All deadline day long, there were reports claiming that Osimhen was either close to joining Chelsea or Saudi Arabia Pro League club Al Ahli, but by 11pm when the European transfer window closed he had joined neither.
And that was the unlikeliest scenario at the beginning of the day of Hollywood-level drama.
Apparently, the 25-year-old Nigeria international was not too keen on Saudi Arabia despite reports of a staggering €40 million-a-year salary offer.
He was also unwilling to take a big pay cut to join Chelsea and remain in Europe, with the English Premier League club also not ready to accept his wage demands.
In the end, he has been forced to remain at Napoli, who have been working all summer to get rid of him for over €100m, and with new manager Antonio Conte preferring Romelu Lukaku.
Chelsea walked away after their best offer was still not enough to convince Osimhen, and Al Ahli went for Ivan Toney instead, who cost €40m from Brentford.
There are fears that Osimhen’s relationship with Napoli has broken down, and he could be frozen out of the first team, made to train alone away from the senior squad, until the next transfer window in January.
The only silver lining for him to leave this summer is if another Saudi club make a suitable offer before the transfer window closes there on Tuesday.
According to reports in Italy, it had been clear for weeks that Osimhen would not accept a pay cut from the €10m per season he agreed with Napoli in December 2023, when he was persuaded to sign a new contract to ward off suitors.
He is also reported to be furious with Napoli for failing to agree a fee with Al-Ahli, where he was set to earn €40m per season with a release clause, because the Serie A club asked for an extra €5m in add-ons on top of the €80m proposal.
Osimhen would feel betrayed by Napoli after steering them to the Serie A title in 2023 — their first in 33 years — with his league-high 26 goals.
He was hot property the summer that followed, but Napoli persuaded him to stay for another year with a contract extension on improved wages.
